Despite the Post-Election optimism for the prospects of Immigration Reform, the past few weeks have exhibited only increasing skepticism over its passage. Conservatives (mainly) have returned to their roosts with the familiar cry of "Secure the Border First" which is politician speak for "Immigration Reform: Not in Our Lifetime". They don't want to seem Anti-Hispanic, but they also want to appeal…

Frankly, this is not a new story. Economic studies arguing that immigration reform would benefit the economy have been done and cited by others, including me, before. This story from the Los Angeles Times today is welcome news nonetheless. To deny the truth regarding the positive impact of…

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining with many others in AILA's National Day of Advocacy in Washington, DC. We met with various members of the Arizona Delegation to Congress, or their staffers, lobbying for, you guessed it, immigration reform. I also went last year. The difference in the conversation between last year's lobbying for immigration reform and this year was so distinct, you'd…

First of all, congratulations to the People of Massachusetts and Boston, law enforcement and others who helped apprehend the suspects in the Boston Marathon Bombing Terrorist Incident. Hopefully the criminal justice system will respect the rights of the surviving suspect while also seeking truth and justice. It is important that our criminal justice system works in a manner that we will all respect…

I've been far too neglectful about updating this blog. With the crush of deferred action cases (more on that in a separate post) as well as just handling a (fortunately) busy law practice, I've ignored this blog far too long. Hopefully I'll be more consistent with this from now on.

Anyway, regardless of whether you voted for Obama or not, whether you think that's a good thing or not, what…

Another AILA attorney received confirmation from Al Franken's Office and DHS of the following clarification of the education requirements contained in the Napolitano Memorandum (re: deferred action for DREAM Act eligible children). The education requirement…

Congressman Lamar Smith (R) of Texas is certainly an anti-immigration hawk and not at all a fan of Obama's recent decision to exercise prosecutorial discretion and grant deferred action to certain non-criminal Dream Act eligible kids. Obama's prosecutorial discretion is inconsistent with the "rule…

The Legal Action Center today released a Practice Advisory for Requesting Deferred Action pursuant to Obama's order that I have affectionally called, "The Dream-Ish Act". An important point to note is that, while it is not clear how strict DHS will adhere to the